ST. PAUL, MInn., February 2, 2006 — The St. Paul Area Red Cross has received a $50,000 grant from the Medica Foundation to fund preparedness and disaster relief that the local chapter provides in the east metro area.
The Medica grant acknowledges the need to fund local Red Cross services in the wake of the unprecedented 2005 hurricanes and the generous support of the national relief effort by area donors. “This grant recognizes the need to support our local Red Cross as they assist local victims of house fires and other disasters that don’t get national attention, but are no less devastating to the lives of their victims,” said Rob Longendyke, executive director of the Medica Foundation. “The grant also supports the daily work of local Red Cross chapters to make our communities healthier and safer -- the lifeguards they train to protect our children, the co-workers they teach to perform CPR, the first aid Red Cross volunteers provide at sporting events.”
“We are fortunate to have a partner like the Medica Foundation that understands that the capacity of the Red Cross to help people to prevent, prepare for, and cope with emergencies depends upon strong local chapters with adequate financial resources,” said David Therkelsen, chief executive officer of the St. Paul Area Red Cross. “We thank all area donors for their tremendous support of the Red Cross’ national hurricane relief efforts and are grateful to Medica and others who are also providing additional support to their local Red Cross chapters.”
The American Red Cross of the St. Paul Area is a non-profit, non-governmental agency that offers emergency social services and education programs to residents of Ramsey, Dakota, and Chisago counties, and parts of Washington County.
The Medica Foundation is a non-profit, charitable grant-making foundation and a sister organization to Medica Health Plans, a Minnesota-based non-profit HMO. The Foundation generally seeks to fund community-based programs and initiatives that can provide sustainable, measurable improvements in the availability, access and quality of healthcare.
Medica (
www.medica.com) is Minnesota's largest HMO, largest PPO and leading non-profit and independent provider of health plans. Medica has 1.2 million members and nearly 27,000 providers in a regional health care network service area that is available to 98 percent of Minnesotans and a growing number of adjoining counties in Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota. Medica also offers national network coverage to employers who also have employees outside the Medica regional network.
Medica has the highest accreditation, Excellent, from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA®) for the commercial health plans it provides to Minnesotans and North Dakotans and for Medicaid HMO plans. Medica's vision is to become the community's health plan of choice, trusted for its integrity, respected for its service, and admired for its commitment to innovation and efficiency.
For more information, contact:Greg Bury, Medica
952-992-8437
Cellular: 612-810-4556
E-mail:
greg.bury@medica.com####